Huntington embezzler sentenced

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — A former employee of the Huntington Housing Authority has been sentenced to a year and a day in a federal prison for stealing more than $20,000 from an assistance program for the homeless.

Federal prosecutors said Patricia Howard, 54, of Huntington embezzled the money, which had been part of the HHA’s Shelter Care Plus program, between 2011 and 2012.

The federal government funds the program which provides housing help for homeless people suffering from mental illness, chronic addiction and AIDS.

Howard handled the Shelter Care Plus finances and, investigators said, she would make transfers from the program to her personal bank account by disguising the transfers as housing payments for the homeless.